Printing Documents

Printing Documents

Printing Documents

In Canvas X Draw, you can print to any printer set up on your computer or network, including PostScript and non-PostScript printers.

For information on installing, setting up, and selecting a printer to use, refer to your operating system documentation.

Printing a Document

If your document uses a standard paper size and you want to print all the visible objects on the page, you can simply select a printer and print the document. However, Canvas X Draw also offers the flexibility to print multiple pages on a page, scale the page to fit the paper, print color, print registration marks, and much more.

To Print a Document:

  1. Choose File | Print.
  2. In the Print dialog box, select a printer from the Name drop-down list in the Printer section.
  3. On the General tab, set the Print range and Copies settings.
  4. Select any other options you want to use from the Advanced and Page setup tabs.
  5. Click the Print button.

Print Options

The Print dialog box contains four tabs: General, Advanced, and Page Setup.

General Options

Printer

Name: Select a printer from the drop-down list.

Properties: Click this button to modify the properties in the printer driver.

Print to file: Select this checkbox if you want to generate a postscript file rather than a printed document.

Print range

All pages: Prints all the pages in the document.

Pages: Prints the pages you specify.

Selection: Prints the currently selected object.

Odd-numbered pages only: Prints only the odd-numbered pages.

Even-numbered pages only: Prints only the even-numbered pages.

Copies

Number of copies: Enter the number of copies you want to print.

Collate copies: Prints all pages of the document in order based on the number of copies requested, rather than printing all copies of page 1, all copies of page 2, and so on.

Reverse order: Prints from the last page to the first, keeping pages in the correct order if the printer stacks pages face-up in the output tray.

Print facing pages: If the document is formatted for spreads, Canvas X Draw prints facing pages on a single page. This option is available for printing Publications only.

Skip blank pages: Does not output document pages that are completely blank.

Preview

Click this button to see a preview of the printed page.

Some documents can be larger than the paper in your printer. To print the entire document, select the Tile option in the Page Setup dialog box. Canvas X Draw will “tile” (divide) the document into a series of pages matching the paper size of your printer.

Advanced Options

Optimization

Optimize image resolution to printer: Optimizes the resolution of images based on the printer capabilities.

Always send header: Sends a header to a Postscript printer.

Text always in front: Because of the way that Canvas X Draw renders SpriteLayer effects, text that is not in front of all other objects can be output as rendered images rather than text. If you want to avoid rendering text for printing, select this option. Canvas X Draw will print the text objects in front of all other objects.

If you have text that has special effects or is behind transparent objects, you should not select this option, so the text will be rendered and printed as it appears in the document.

Kanji fonts resident: Uses resident Kanji fonts on Postscript printers when you are printing Japanese text.

Transparency rendering: Choose an option in the Transparency Rendering menu to specify how transparency and SpriteEffects will be rendered (converted to pixels for printing).

  • Smallest area: Renders the area inside the bounding box of all transparent objects. This generates the least amount of additional data to print transparency effects. Do not choose this option if you are printing in color on non-PostScript printers and the document has vector and transparent objects that share the same color, because these printers will not match the colors precisely. In some cases, non-standard PostScript printers might produce a slight pixel shift between a transparent and non-transparent area of a vector object. If this happens, select Complete Area.
  • Complete area: Renders the area within the bounding boxes of all transparent objects, as well as objects that are overlapped by transparent objects (or intervening objects). This is the best setting to use when you print to a non-PostScript printer, such as a Windows GDI printer, to avoid color-matching problems
  • Entire document: Renders all objects in the document as one or more images that are sent to the printer. This is equivalent to processing the document in an internal RIP (raster image processor) in Canvas X Draw. This option produces the greatest amount of image data. However, this option can be useful if you experience problems producing accurate output of transparency or other effects when you use a particular printer or printer driver.

  • No transparency: Does not render any transparency effects in the document. If you select this option, transparency (SpriteLayer) and image (SpriteEffects) effects will not be printed; transparent objects will be printed as opaque objects.

    The one exception to this rule involves vector objects that have a transparency Scope setting of Fill only when printing to a PostScript printer, because PostScript can print transparent fill inks in vector objects without rendering. For information on the Scope setting, see To Set an Object’s Transparency Scope:.

    Select Don’t Render Transparent Objects if you need to quickly print a proof of a complex document. This allows you to check the positioning of objects without seeing the final transparency effects.

    Rendered transparency effects are transmitted as image data when printing to PostScript printers.

 Color mode: Choose an option to control color accuracy when using a color printer. In general, when you print to a color printer, it’s best to choose a color specification that matches the colors in the document you’re printing; e.g., choose CMYK if your document contains CMYK colors only.
  • RGB: Outputs colors using RGB color specifications. A non-color printer will convert the color values to print as shades of gray.
  • Black & White: Prints all colors as black or white.
  • Colors As Grays: Canvas X Draw converts color values to shades of gray for printing on any printer, including color printers.
  • CIE L*a*b: Uses color calibration to try to match printed colors to their appearance on screen. Keep in mind that many on-screen hues cannot be reproduced on paper with printing inks. For example, colors that look bright and saturated on screen, such as hot pink, cyan, and brilliant orange, will appear muted in printed materials.
  • CMYK: Outputs colors using CMYK color specifications. A non-color printer will convert the color values to print as shades of gray.

 

Image compression: Choose a format for output of image data to a PostScript device or file. The format you choose affects the amount of data transmitted and the size of a PostScript file. This setting can affect compatibility with networks and PostScript printers.
  • ASCII: Outputs image data as plain text. This is the most compatible format, but it transmits (or saves in files) the largest amount of data.
  • Binary: Outputs images as binary data, which might not be compatible with all printers and networks. Binary data is half the size of ASCII data.
  • Level 2 ASCII: Outputs images in an ASCII format that is compatible with PostScript Level 2 devices. This produces files that are approximately 20% smaller than regular ASCII PostScript files.
  • RLE: Outputs images using Run Length Encoding compression. This format is compatible with PostScript Level 2 devices. This form of compression is most efficient when documents contain images that have large areas of flat color.
  • JPEG: Outputs images using JPEG compression. This format is compatible with PostScript Level 2 devices. JPEG compression requires more system memory and more processing time at the printer than other compression methods. However, this format achieves the fastest printing results with continuous-tone (photographic) images and documents containing transparency effects.

By default, Canvas X Draw uses JPEG compression for printing images. This can reduce the amount of data sent to the printer. If a network print spooler reports errors with a JPEG data stream, select Images: ASCII or Level 2 ASCII and try printing again. The Images setting affects printing of images and rendered effects only.

Additional Information

Registration marks: Adds registration marks, used for alignment in colored printing.

Canvas X Draw file name: Includes the Canvas X Draw filename at the top of the page.

Crop marks: Includes crop marks, short vertical and horizontal lines that indicate the border where an illustration or page can be trimmed.

Page Setup

Scale

Fit to paper: Scales a document to fit within the page’s printable area. Remember that objects outside the layout area, will not be printed.

Center on paper: Centers a document on the printed page. If you’re printing selected objects only, Canvas X Draw shifts the selected items to the center of the printed media. This option can be useful when you have selected objects that you want to print in the center of the page, but they are not centered in the document itself.

Tile: Prints a large document by dividing it among “tiles” of printer pages. Type an Overlap value in the text box so part of the document repeats at the edge of adjoining tiles; the overlap makes it easier to assemble the complete document after printing.

Thumbnails

Print thumbnails: Select the number of pages to print per page. The preview area shows how your pages will be placed on the paper.

Previewing Your Printed Document

The print preview reflects the current print settings and the page setup. In the preview, you can see which objects, layers, and pages will be printed. You can make sure the layout fits in the printable area of the paper. If you choose the Tile option in the Page Setup tab or dialog box, the preview shows the tiles as separate pages.

To Preview a Printed Document:

  1. Do one of the following:
    • Choose File | Print Preview...
    • Choose File | Print, then click the Preview button.
  2. Do one or more of the following to preview the document:
    • Click the zoom buttons to increase or decrease the magnification of the preview.
    • Click the arrow buttons to view other pages.
  3. When you have finished previewing the document, do one of the following:
    • Click Print to send it to the current printer when you finish previewing a document and the settings are correct.
    • Click Close to return to the document without printing.

Print Preview Options

The Print Preview dialog box provides the Options and Page setup tabs with the same options as the Print dialog box. (See Print Options.)

Additional options appear at the bottom of the dialog box:

Show rasterized area

Select this checkbox to see the objects that will be rendered when sent to the printer. This option depends on the selection in the Transparency rendering menu.

Show overprint/choke/spread

These checkboxes are related to the trapping technique that you can apply to objects via the Object Specs palette (Trap tab). If you have applied any technique, select the appropriate checkbox.

Normal display

Select this radio button to switch to normal display if using wireframe display.

Wireframe display

Select this radio button to switch to wireframe mode.

Using Page Setup

If you always want to use the same settings when you print a particular document, you can save the settings in the Page Setup dialog box. It’s a good idea to set these options when you create a document so you can see page breaks correctly on the screen.

To Set Up Pages for Printing:

Choose File | Page Setup.

Page Setup Options

Printer

Select a printer from the drop-down list.

PPD

If the printer you are using is a Postscript printer, also select a PPD (Postscript Printer Description).

Fit To Paper

Scales a document to fit within the page’s printable area. Remember that objects outside the layout area, will not be printed.

Center On Paper

Centers a document on the printed page. If you’re printing selected objects only, Canvas X Draw shifts the selected items to the center of the printed media. This option can be useful when you have selected objects that you want to print in the center of the page, but they are not centered in the document itself.

Tile

Prints a large document by dividing it among “tiles” of printer pages. Type an Overlap value in the text box so part of the document repeats at the edge of adjoining tiles; the overlap makes it easier to assemble the complete document after printing.

Printer Properties

Click this button to set up the printer properties in the printer's print driver.

Canvas X Draw can obtain the page orientation from the printer properties. Select the correct page orientation in the Page Setup dialog box, deselect any objects in your document, and then, in the Properties bar, select From Printer in the Paper menu.

Setting the Print Area

If you want to print only a selected area of a page, you can set the print area to define how much of the page is printed. This can be especially useful for large documents that don't fit easily on standard sizes of paper or complex documents where you want to focus on a single component. Once you have set a print area, you can choose to toggle it on or off depending on whether you want to print just the print area or the entire document.

To Set the Print Area:

  1. Choose File | Print Area | Set Print Area.
  2. Use the Print Area cursor to draw a box around the area you want to print.
  3. In the Print Area dialog box, check and adjust the Left, Top, Width, and Height measurements as necessary.

  4. Click the OK button.

    An orange box appears in the document to indicate the printable area.

To Toggle the Print Area on or off:

In the Properties bar, select or deselect the Print area checkbox.

When the Print area is on, an orange box appears to indicate the printable area. When the Print area is off, the orange box disappears.

To Remove the Print Area:

Choose File | Print Area | Clear Print Area.

Troubleshooting Document Printing

A few key factors affect how Canvas X Draw prints a document. Canvas X Draw decides which objects to print based on the following:

  • Document boundary: Canvas X Draw does not print objects that are outside the layout area (the rectangle that represents the document on screen). Objects that are partly inside and partly outside the layout area will be cropped in the printout.
  • Visible layers: Objects on layers that are not visible are not printed.
  • Printable layers: If a layer’s print option (in the Document Layout palette) is off, nothing on the layer is printed.
  • Printable objects: If an object is made non-printable (in the Document Layout palette or the Trap tab in Object Specs), the object will not print.
  • Printable area: If you have set a print area, then only the area within the print area is printed. You can toggle the printable area by selecting its checkbox in the Properties bar.

See also:

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